Attached are the slides from a social media in travel presentation I gave in 2013, along with comments about what travel brands like Carnival, San Diego Convention and Visitor Bureau, and Costa Cruises are looking for from travel writers and bloggers.

1. How Social Media has Changed
Travel Writing

2. Summary:
• Who is James Hills
• Bloggers vs. Reporters
• My Tools of the Trade
• Content Promotion Tips
• Feedback from Brands

3. Who is James Hills

4. Travel Bloggers are NOT Reporters
•Out on a mission to “get the story!”
•Lots of time to confirm details, copy edit,
limited print space
•Illusion of impartiality
•Paid for their “work”
•Out on a mission to “share the experience!”
•Constant publishing of Tweets, Instagrams,
etc. and virtually unlimited canvas to share
rich media.
•Personality guides creative product
•“unpaid” or “work for perks”

5. My Travel Tools of the Trade

6. Great Content
that People Can’t Reach
Means NOTHING!

7. Promoting Great Content

8. Carnival Cruise Lines
John Heald – Social Media Ambassador
“Let your moments shine” FB + TV
campaign featuring customer images
“Social has allowed guests to be an
extension of marketing strategy”

9. Carnival Cruise Lines

10. Car Companies

11. What are they Looking For: Carnival
We look for bloggers/influencers with
strong and solid social media followings
that produce great content.
Numbers are important, but you can have a great niche blogger that
might not have a huge following with a solid and reputable voice in
their area of expertise. Quality is also a big factor, no matter how big
an influencers’ numbers might be, if the quality of their work is poor,
not many brands will want to work with them.
Also, “bought” followers are a big no-no, brands can spot bloggers who
partake in those types of practices and it only hurts the bloggers’
chances of working with a brand then help them.

12. What are they Looking For: San Diego
Three things: Reach, Tone and Professionalism!
Of course we want to work with people that have as big of a reach as possible,
but we also consider whether or not the tone/audience is the right fit.
And if you are professional and easy to work with, that’s incredible important
too. Be upfront about your stats and what your needs are, but also understand
that we have our own needs and they might not always match.

13. What are they Looking For: Costa
As traditional media has shrunk, there are fewer intermediaries between a
company and the consumer. For example, in Florida, there has not been a full-
time travel editor at a major newspaper for about 7 years. Social media has
enabled us to go directly to consumers via various platforms and has enabled
guests to share their experiences with photographs, stories and opinions
through message boards.
Social media has change traditional "PR" business because it has created more
two-way communication. Another advantage is that consumers can read about
other consumers' experiences, creating a sort of global word of mouth. In terms
of working with bloggers and influencers, the statistics we use to choose who to
work with have changed in many ways.

14. Thank You!
James Hills
Web: http://www.mantripping.com
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